CLASHES AND CHAOS
12 cops hurt in Seattle as protesters rampage
A dozen cops were injured and businesses and police stations damaged when a protest in Seattle against police brutality and Immigration and Customs Enforcement turned violent.
The demonstration, calling for the abolition of ICE, began at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Westlake Park downtown, and was joined about three hours later by a group of protesters with baseball bats, KIRO-TV reported.
The group marched to the Seattle Police Headquarters and left a trail of destruction along the way, including broken windows, graffiti and other vandalism at the city’s old federal courthouse, the Municipal Court Building and an Amazon Go grocery store, according to cops.
“Individuals in the group appeared to target Starbucks and Amazon,” Seattle Police Sgt. Lauren Truscott told reporters.
The protesters then headed to the West Precinct station house, where they tossed mortar-style fireworks at cops from close range, injuring 12, she said.
Officers fought back with blast balls and pepper spray.
The mob continued to damage businesses as they made their way to the East Precinct station house, according to KIRO-TV.
Once they arrived, they broke windows and threw “some type of pyrotechnic item” into the lobby that ignited a small blaze, the news station reported.
A local resident extinguished the flames, and no injuries were reported.
The East Precinct station was evacuated last month as demonstrators clashed with cops and set up the weeks-long Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone. Police reclaimed the station earlier this month after dispersing the encampment.
After attacking the station on
Sunday, the protesters gathered at Cal Anderson Park before dispersing, police said.
At least two people were arrested in the rampage.
One cop was taken to a hospital after suffering burns on his neck from a hurled firework outside the West Precinct station, the Seattle Times reported. Others suffered cuts and abrasions.
Police said there had been essentially two groups of demonstrators — peaceful ones who had gathered at Westlake Park and those who joined about three hours later.
“Individuals within this [latter] group appeared to be very organized, and this appeared to be a very concerted effort at property damage of certain businesses and government facilities,” police said in a blotter post.